The 'Argo' star says in a new interview that a stalker who threatened to kill his family pretended to be a paparazzo and joined the crowd of photographers.
- Dec 10, 2013
AceShowbiz - Ben Affleck reveals a scary story involving stalker and paparazzi in a new interview with Playboy. The "Argo" star says that a stalker who wanted to kill his family tried to get close with his children by joining paparazzi who gathered outside the children's school.
"It's wrong and disgusting to follow children around and take their picture and sell it for money. It makes the kids less safe. They used to take pictures of our children coming out of preschool, and so this stalker who had threatened to kill me, my wife and our kids showed up at the school and got arrested...there are real practical dangers to this," the "Runner, Runner" star says.
"He was in the pack of paparazzi. They didn't know he was a guy who was threatening to murder our family. That makes me angry. It's a safety thing, and there's also a sanity thing," Affleck continues. The actor also says that paparazzi encounters scare his young children.
"As their father it's my job to protect them from that stuff. I try my very best, and sometimes I'm successful. The tragic thing is, people who see pictures naturally think it's sweet. They don't see the gigantic former gang member with a huge lens standing over a four-year-old and screaming to get the kid's attention," he explains. "The kids are always looking down because they're freaked out and scared of these people. And so they yell. Which is fine if you're Lindsay Lohan coming out of a club, or me or any adult. With kids it's tasteless at best."
Earlier this year, Affleck's wife Jennifer Garner teamed up with Halle Berry to support a bill which imposes heavier penalties for people who take photos of celebrities' children in harassing manners. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in September in Sacramento.
